Replies

I shot the first half of Crawford's playoff game at Pennington Field last year -- don't remember the opponent, but I think they lost the game. The lighting was so bad, I left. That's what I like about Texas Stadium: no lighting issues and I can shoot 800ASA (sometimes 400), 1/250 or faster at 2.8.

I shoot Canon. Right now with a 20D and a 70-200/2.8, but if I shoot any next year, I'll get the 300. I like to shoot end zone shots and for the 200 to work well at all, they need to be inside the 25. The crop factor of the 20D helps, and its fast enough, but I wish it had a bigger buffer as I always shoot raw.

I don't let any coaches on the field and wouldn't dare let any non-participants out there even if a jr. high team is on the far hash. Our mechanics still have me on the outside of the sideline and I insist teams stay back. It isn't a safety issue as much as I don't want to have to run around anyone if the play goes long or if its a reverse or something. If I do that, I will drop a flag and then decide whether its a sideline warning (2 free ones, then 5 yards) or unsportsmanlike conduct (15 yards). Usually, it would be the first one unless the coach is being a jerk. Which reminds me. We're only a month out from scrimmages, and I better get back into the rule book!

As far as photogs, I don't have any trouble with them as an official. I did have one guy that wanted to play "tough guy" last year, but I finally convinced him he wouldn't win any war of wills and it was in his best interest to get his job done rather than get arrested -- or at least handcuffed. What a lot of guys don't know is that cops at sporting events will arrest someone the official(s) tell them to "take out." I have at times talked to them during time outs and such. Most everyone's pretty cool but you get your occassional prima donna.

We played two games at Pennington last year. Prosper and Celina. We beat Prosper, and Celina beat us next week. Celina was wormed because last year we broke their 78 game 2A win streak and beat them worse than they'd been beaten in something like twenty years. They returned the favor. Both years, the team that won that game won the state title. Here's a shot from the Pennington game:

You're right about the lighting. For a high quality field, it was very tough lighting. I shoot a 1DMII with the 70-200 2.8 and flash. I'd love to get a 300 lens, but the 2.8L is around 3K (OUCH!), and the other versions aren't really useable for night games.